Saturday, June 8, 2013

Osprey

One Osprey was
on the nest, the other one was circling it.We were already within their comfort zone and only a hundred
feet from the car.

We hadn’t
learned their boundaries, yet. Fred took cover behind the ball diamond’s
dugout and I looked for a spot that would make them happy.

The sign informed us the Green Lake Lakers played baseball here.It was quiet at 8:30 in the
morning.High atop the left field
light standard two Ospreys had built a nest.With their high angle view they saw everything coming or going.We had no hope of arriving
unnoticed.I wondered about their
choice of nest sites…busy town, ballpark, bright lights…seemed odd.Not the ideal place to raise a
family.

It’s likely Ospreys don’t know anything about baseball.

Soon both were circling and calling in harsh grating voices,
expressed their displeasure at us.I wondered what they did on game nights with the lights lit and the
crowd cheering.

Oddly, after putting up with game noise, why would
two quiet guys with cameras upset them so?

The Ospreys watched us intently.

They only quieted down when I moved further away
from their nest site.My friend,
Fred, leaning on the dugout wall, was less conspicuous. When their hawk-like vocalizations
stopped I assumed they were satisfied.
Osprey pairs look alike.I can’t tell which is which, although one
looks darker than the other. One bird is missing a feather on its right wing...noticeable in flight. 'Who's who' is known to them anyway…really. I only became interested when it involved the sharing of a fish.

Osprey #1 caught a fish and landed on a small manmade perch,
nearby Osprey #2. He/she landed
with the fish and looked around, clearly in the mate’s sight.The mate didn’t cry out for a share,
but watched intently.Osprey #1 proceeded to eat it. He/she ate the whole fish! Bit-by-bit it was gone!If he/she didn’t intend to share, why
did he/she return to eat it in front of the mate?Had the mate already eaten? Maybe that’s putting way too much human
emotion onto a bird, but for me it became an interesting observation…without an
answer. Now full of fish he/she made a couple of circles around the nest and disappeared for a half-hour.

A possible answer came when Osprey #1 returned to the nest with a fish
for the mate.The transfer was
made out of sight, but Osprey #2 leaves grasping a fish in its talons.

Osprey #1 now settles down for a turn at incubating eggs.

Ospreys are beautiful birds to watch.They are sculpted, graceful and elegant
in flight.

With a five to six foot wingspan they are not difficult to identify. They are mostly
white under the wings, the 'armpits' and breast.

Their wings make an M
shape in flight.

Capable of hovering, this unique species of hawk can wait for
the precise moment to plunge into the water, feet-first for a fish.They prefer shallow water, and can
reach a fish three feet under the surface.

Begrudgingly gracious in the long run, the Ospreys made Fred and I
wait six hours for our pictures.